Photoshop Effect in After Effects

Ok, I created a pretty cool looking photo in photoshop using a tutorial I found, but now I want to animate my result from photoshop. So I tried recreating the results I got in photoshop with after effects but after effects does not have Render >> Clouds and Difference clouds and the Levels effect is completely different. I tried using Fractal noise to replace the cloud and difference clouds but I can't get the levels effect to recreate how the levels panel works in photoshop. Here is the tutorialhttp://www.rnel.net/tutorial/Photoshop/6563
and I only need to do steps 1 & 2 because the rest i alter to suit my purpose but I cannot do steps 1 or 2.

Have you tried simply importing your PSD file into After Effects rather than recreating the image from scratch in After Effects?

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the 'T' back in 'RTFM' : After Effects Help on the Web
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But my aim is to make what i see in the .PSD in after effects so i can animate it. I need to animate the effect to make it look as if energy is being drawn into a crystal on a glove. Like i said, I tried to create it using fractal noise which would allow me to use the evolution settings but I can't seem to recreate it.

There is no 1-to-1 correspondence between Photoshop and After Effects. They're two different applications, for two different needs, with different ways of doing things. So if you want PRECISELY what you did in Photoshop, why not do the entire shot in Photoshop?

I know there is no correspondence between them I just thought there may be an alternative way to replicate photoshop outcomes in after effects. I can't do the whole shot in photoshop because that would require frame by frame would it not? Also i am pretty good in After Effects but I cannot seem to replicate this effect. If anyone has any ideas how to replicate it they are all welcome and appreciated.

I do a lot of work in Photoshop, then import the Photoshop document as a layered composition, and then animate the pieces separately. If there's something that I need to redo or add in After Effects, that is less time and work then trying to recreate the entire image from scratch in After Effects.

A _lot_ of things are directly transferred when you import a PSD. Have you tried?

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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
putting the 'T' back in 'RTFM' : After Effects Help on the Web
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If a page of After Effects Help answers your question, please consider rating it. If you have a tip, technique, or link to share---or if there is something that you'd like to see added or improved---please leave a comment.

You can recreate this in AE. I was able to get something pretty close. The key is to pre-compose.
My first composition I applied Fractal Noise twice to a layer. The first instance I had my settings as Type:strings, Noise Type: Spline, and Overflow was set to clip. Brightness was set to 56, but you can play around with that. Contrast was around 56. You can play around with other settings. The second application to the layer of fractal noise I had the Type as Basic, Noise type as Soft Linear, and overflow was set to Allow HDR Results. All this was then pre-composed into a new comp that I called Clouds.

I then took my Clouds comp and applied Level, Color Balance, and Radial Blur similar to the Photoshop tutorial you were referring to. I then pre-comped that and called it Blur Clouds.

In the final comp I duplicated Blur Clouds about 3 time. The bottom version has no filters. The top two I applied twirl and set the very top version to a blend mode of Lighten.

The filters that you find in Photoshop I believe are all there in AE, just used a a little differently and what your used to with simple stacking of layers in Photoshop sometimes requires pre-composing and duplication of layers.